For those of us who had neither the opportunity nor the inclination to study economics, the world of high finance and all its machinations can often be as unfathomable as it is uninteresting.

Chancellor George Osborne faces criticism for his austerity measures as the economic storm clouds gather

For those of us who had neither the opportunity nor the inclination to study economics, the world of high finance and all its machinations can often be as unfathomable as it is uninteresting.

In normal circumstances this has little bearing on day-to-day life, in a similar way to not knowing the finer points of packet sharing is no barrier to doing the Christmas shopping online, but it’s when the whole system comes crashing down that by our ignorance are we all found out.

Fortunately, as with all depressions, things get so bad that eventually signposts appear which are clear enough for even the most innumerate among us to have an idea what’s going on.

Early indications range from job losses to a housing market collapse and, as things get worse, familiar names start to disappear from the high street, interest rates render your savings useless and the Bank of England starts printing money with all its might.

When none of the rate tinkering and quantitative easing is appearing to work the road signs change from posts perched precariously in the grassless verges to great big two-lane flashing billboards warning of stagnant growth, deeper cuts and increased borrowing, but ironically they are often more difficult to see because wage freezes and spiralling petrol costs mean people don’t get out as much.

But there is perhaps no greater sign that the recovery’s not doing as well as hoped than when members of government stop milling around looking at the broken economy like clueless drunks staring at a barbecue which won’t light, and proudly announce their flagship policy is an above-inflation rise in the amount of force it’s reasonable to use against burglars.

With energy prices set to rocket and a further £10bn in welfare cuts announced by floundering George Osborne and co-conspirator Iain Duncan Smith, in no time at all we’ve gone from being allowed very little force to defend our castles, for fear of ending up like Tony Martin, to reasonable force, which drew cheers from a Tory conference faithful with little to cheer about, to, most tellingly of all, beyond reasonable force.

Ministers have been keen to trumpet even the smallest green shoots, and to talk of a leaner Britain unburdened by all those front-line police officers, freed from all those public services we used to take for granted and ready to face the challenges of a changing economic world, but there’s no surer way of admitting defeat than taking the shackles off burglar bashing.

But then just as those signposts make it easier for economically illiterate among us to understand what‘s going on, those who have profited most from the reckless behaviour of our politicians and banks will now be able to easily identify the poorest among us, by the fact they are able to torture them with power tools when they catch them rummaging through the bins for something to eat.

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Ed Miliband warned today that a future Labour Government would have to continue making public spending cuts as he urged trade unions to prove they are “relevant” to the 21st century private sector workforce.

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